1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fish processing machine. Generally a fish processing machine consists of a fish feeder, decapitator, belly filleting and viscera removing device, and dark-colored flesh removing device. The invention particularly relates to the feeder and dark-colored flesh removing device, and more specifically the feeder relates to a device of conveying by feeding the fish supplied in lying position onto trays disposed at specific intervals one by one with the back-belly direction specified, and the dark-colored flesh removing device relates to a device separating the fish into ordinary flesh and dark-colored flesh and removing the dark-colored flesh.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Of the devices composing the fish processing machine, the decapitator and the belly filleting and viscera removing device are same as the known ones.
To begin with, the prior art of the feeder is described.
In a step of processing a massive quantity of fish for the purpose of row collection or the like, the fish to be processed must be securely put on the trays mounted on a chain or the like at specific intervals one by one, and the fish body must be arranged in a specific back-belly direction for the convenience of subsequent processes such as decapitation, filleting and removal of viscera. In order to perform these two jobs simultaneously, hitherto, the manual labor was employed.
Next is explained the prior art of dark-colored flesh removing device.
In the case of the so-called red flesh fish such as sardine, mackerel and saury pike, as shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, there is an oily layer called sebum at the inner side of the epidermis of the fish body F1, and further inside of the oily layer, there is a so-called dark-colored flesh indicated by reference numeral 102. This dark-colored flesh 102 is easier to row than ordinary flesh 103, and does not taste good. Therefore, when making flesh paste such as fish cake from the fish body F1, mixture of the dark-colored flesh 102 into the ordinary flesh 103 results in reddish change of color of the ordinary flesh 103, which spoils the quality of the fish paste product. Therefore, such dark-colored flesh 102 is conventionally removed. Meanwhile, in the case of white flesh fish such as cod, the dark-colored flesh is not so significant, but must be removed just the same.
In the joining part of the dark-colored flesh 102 and the ordinary flesh 103 which occupies the majority of the fish body L, there is a thin layer made of different texture from other portions, and the dark-colored flesh 102 and the ordinary flesh 103 can be easily separated from each other.
FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a conventional dark-colored flesh removing device 105. In the dark-colored flesh removing device 105, a pair of pressure members 106, 107 formed in a roller shape are disposed, and recesses 108, 109 are formed on the entire outer circumference of the pressure members 106, 107. The pressure members 106, 107 are rotated and driven mutually in reverse directions around the rotary axial line of rotary shafts 113, 114 by means of gears 110, 111, 112. The fish body F1 from which the head and tail are chopped off is guided into a gap 115 formed approximately in an elliptical shape by the recesses 108, 109 by means of guide member (not shown), and is pinched and pressed by the rotation of the pressure members 106, 107. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19, the ordinary flesh 103 of the fish body F1 is pushed out toward the outside.
In the prior art described herein, since the surface of the fish body F1 is slippery, the fish body F1 may be deviated sideways when pinching the fish body F1 by the pressure members 106, 107, and it cannot be placed exactly in the desired position in the gap 115. When the fish body F1 is pressed in such deviated state, the dark-colored flesh 102 may be mixed into the ordinary flesh 103. Besides, since the size of fish body is not uniform, and the fish body must be selected depending on the size of the gap 115.
Yet, in the prior art, the fish body supplied into the dark-colored flesh removing device is opened only at the belly side, and in order to push out the ordinary flesh efficiently from both belly side to the dorsal side, it is necessary to extremely increase the pushing force of the pressure members 106, 107 into the fish body F1, and in such a case, when the fish body F1 is pressed by the pressure members 106, 107, an excessive force acts on the dark-colored flesh 102 and the backbone 116, and the dark-colored flesh 102 and the backbone 116 may be pushed outward together with the ordinary flesh 103. It is therefore necessary to adjust the pressing force of the pressure members 106, 107 on the fish body F1. However, adjustment of the pressing force of the pressure member 106, 107 requires a complicated structure, and the apparatus is increased in the size.